EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMMUNITY OF CARING HONORS ROWLAND UNIFIED AS OUTSTANDING DISTRICT

JULY 30, 2007 â€“ Rowland Unified School District was awarded the â€œ2007 Community of Caring Outstanding District Awardâ€ by The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring. The recognition took place at the National Community of Caring Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 26.

Community of Caring is a K -12 character education and teen pregnancy prevention program that provides a whole school approach and includes all children, with a unique focus on children with disabilities. Founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver in 1982, almost 1,000 schools in 38 states and in Canada have adopted the program.

Community of Caring is built around five core values that empower young people to be responsible and caring members of a community: Caring, Respect, Responsibility, Trust, and Family.

“Rowland Unified was chosen because they have modeled not only the ability to sustain the Community of Caring initiatives in their schools, but are committed to renewing the program across the District. They are exemplary in this award category,” said Penny Keith, professional development/grants coordinator for the NationalCenter for Community of Caring.

“We are so proud to receive this award,” said Rowland Unified Grant Coordinator Nancy Ballantyne. “The Community of Caring program has been and continues to be a vital part of our District. We started the program in 1996 and the core values and components have provided a contagious passion of caring that has positively infected every staff member and student in our District.”

Highlights of the Community of Caring program in Rowland Unified include:

Two Rowland Unified teachers have been recognized as National Community of Caring Teachers of the Year: Ron D’Alessandro and Susie Burch. These dedicated teachers have implemented outstanding programs with high school students, including Best Buddies, Ambassadors and Peer Promoters. Teen forms are also held to allow students an opportunity to learn about current issues and to express their opinions.

Lead Teachers have been appointed at each of the 23 schools in Rowland Unified to plan and implement activities with a certified Teacher Trainer -- Rowland High School Teacher Susie Burch – who provides assistance to schools and lessons to teachers at quarterly meetings.

With new state funding through McKinney-Vento, an effort has been made to provide caring activities for homeless students through buddy systems, distributing clothing, school supplies and care kits to students.

Rowland Board of Education was so impressed with how service learning positively affected children; they instituted a graduation requirement for all high school students to conduct community service hours.

The RowlandUnifiedSchool District is proud to serve 17,500 students at 23 elementary and secondary schools in the communities of Rowland Heights, Walnut, La Puente, City of Industry,andWest Covina. Permits allow students from other communities to attend our schools. More than 5,000 adults (16+) are also served by the Rowland Adult and CommunityEducationSchool. For more information about Rowland Unified, call (626) 965-2541 or visit www.RowlandSchools.org.